With less than 9 hours left, Bitcoins.com pre-auction has yet to break reserve price

There are few domain names in the cryptocurrency world more promising for an SEO-savvy marketer than Bitcoins.com. Currently owned by Mt.Gox parent company Tibanne, Bitcoins.com has the potential to be a flagship site in the digital currency community. When it was announced earlier this month that the domain would be auctioned off, many analysts predicted that the bidding could easily reach $1 million.

With less than 9 hours to go on the online pre-auction, however, the Heritage Auctions sale has yet to heat up. The $750,000 reserve limit hasn’t even been touched. While it’s normal for most of the action at a live auction to take place at the very end, the sluggish start to the bidding suggests that there may be less demand for the domain than previously assumed.

Even if the domain reaches its reserve before the end of the online auction, the highest bidder won’t actually win the domain name. A live floor auction for the domain will take place tomorrow in Dallas. By exceeding the reserve amount online, a bidder would be able to set a new starting bid for the domain. This situation becomes increasingly less likely with every minute that passes, meaning the opening bid tomorrow will likely be the published amount of $185,000.

Tibanne CEO Mark Karpeles has said that “at least half” of the proceeds from the sale will go to paying off Mt.Gox creditors.